Agilent Technologies: Fun On the Run ; at Agilent Technologies, Commitment, Feedback-and Loads of Fun-Are a Way of Life.

Summary

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Water-cooler gossip, vacant work stations, a boss who's never in his office...so that's what it takes to be one of The Best Companies To Work For In India, you mutter under your breath after spending a few minutes in Agilent Technologies' four-storeyed corporate office in Gurgaon. It's true: Enter the building, and you stumble into people (presumably employees) either lolling around or huddled together in a chinwag. The 9-5 cycle has peaked, yet there are plenty of unoccupied cubicles. Walk up to the Country Manager's corner room-and he isn't there. "He's never at his seat," grumbles the good Secretary.

So what's going on? Plenty in fact, which is what you realise soon enough. If there are many seats lying empty, it's only because employees at Agilent have the option of working out of home. If Country Manager Venkatesh Valluri, aka 'Venky', can't be found by Madhu Loyal, his Secretary, that's because he's on his daily office excursion; it usually begins from the basement (where the canteen's located), moves on to the terrace (the ubiquitous smoking zone), and further on to the adjacent building that houses the research & development division. "I like to move around, and catch people at their desks, instead of talking on the phone within the office. It is more fun to meet people personally," says Venky. Nobody seems to mind, except perhaps Secretary Loyal. "He leaves his cell-phone in his cabin, so I have to look for him all over the floors," she moans.

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Agilent Technologies: Fun On the Run ; at Agilent Technologies, Commitment, Feedback-and Loads of Fun-Are a Way of Life.

It's all done in good humour, of course. For a company that's into a fairly solemn kind of business -it makes testing instruments for electronics, communications, chemical analysis and life sciences- the air at Agilent isn't that heavy. At the time of writing, Venky is preparing for the Hutch Delhi Marathon by running 11 km daily in Gurgaon's Leisure Valley Park. "These days I am trying to convince my staff to participate in the marathon, and alre...

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